Question

If I’m carrying a firearm in my vehicle and am pulled over for a routine traffic stop, should I inform the officer about the presence of a firearm?

Answer

First, we don’t offer legal advice on this site. You’ll want to contact your attorney or Department of Public Safety (or both) to make sure you’re abiding by the laws in your locality.

Second, we at Sitting Duck Policy have the utmost respect for those involved in law enforcement. 

When you are pulled over you are, by definition, being detained. You are not free to leave until the officer permits you to leave. The officer will ask you questions and is authorized to keep you detained until they have completed their investigation.

If the law requires you to notify the officer, abide by the law. Otherwise there are two schools of thought on what to do next.

• One says don’t tell the officer anything more than what you’re legally required to, and exercise your right to remain silent.
• The other says to be open and cooperative.

It’s up to you to decide how to proceed.

If you are in a locality that requires a permit to carry a firearm, when the officer asks you for your license and registration also pass him/her your carry permit. Don’t volunteer any information that you’re not specifically asked.

If they then ask you if you are carrying a firearm you can reply that you have a permit and are legally allowed to do so. It’s not answering their question per se, but it is notifying them that you are legally allowed to do so.

If they ask again, you can either respond by asking "am I legally required to answer that?" or answer specifically in a manner such as "my sidearm is on my right hip".

Remember, if you answer, you are required to answer truthfully; ironically, LEOs are under no such requirement to be truthful to you.

Furthermore, anything you say WILL be used against you. You are protected against self-incrimination in that you are not required to testify against yourself; however, you may ignorantly voluntarily testify against yourself. That is not illegal.

Know the law. Know your rights. Don’t let anyone, even a LEO, tread on those rights.

In a political move, Authorities in Nevada have decided that the Concealed Firearm Permits (CFP) issued by Utah and Florida “materially differ” from those issued by Nevada, and are thereby exempt from reciprocity.

In other words, as of July 1st, 2009 Nevada will no longer honor Utah and Florida CFPs.

The reasoning? Nevada permits are valid for a period of 5 years and require live-shooting proficiency as part of the requirements to be eligible for a Nevada CFP.

Utah does not require a live-shooting as a requirement for obtaining the permit, Nevada does.

Florida permits are good for 7 years, 2 more than Nevada’s 5.

Nevada, we feel, is picking at straws and shouldn’t worry about these two seemingly minor issues. Utah and Florida could offer “extensions” to their permit (similar to drivers license endorsements for commercial vehicles or motorcycles) that indicate the CFP holder has been “certified” in live ammunition or has “renewed” their permit at the 5 year mark. We’re afraid of what kind of can-of-worms this might open.

In the meantime, we at Sitting Duck Policy are advising our readers to unload and properly store their firearms before crossing the line into Nevada – or avoid Nevada altogether until they reverse their policy.

Strategic Tactical Group is offering 3 two-day courses to be held in Wendover, Utah on June 27th & 28th, 2009.

Building Clearing (for the Home Owner)

The first course is offered is a two day building clearing course. Cost for this class is $100/person with a $75 nonrefundable deposit. This course is designed for the individual homeowner wants to have the tactics and mindset be able to clear his/her home encase of an intruder. Day one consists of tactics taught in the “soft house” and the date you is split up into two portions. The first half of day one is live fire, where you will be shooting live rounds inside of the building and engaging multiple targets. The second portion of day two will consist of force-on-force training utilizing Simunitions (simulated ammunition fired from real firearms).

Tactical Carbine (AR-15)

The tactical carbine course is taught based on the AR-15 weapon system. On day one topics covered will be nomenclature/statistics of the AR 15 malfunction clearing, equipment/optics, reloading drills and more. On day two it will involve how to clear building utilizing the AR-15. The building clearing portion will be done with no ammunition. Each student will be required to bring 300-400 rounds of ammunition, handgun with 150 rounds and appropriate safety gear. Cost for this course is $100 with a nonrefundable deposit of $75.

Precision Rifle

Precision Rifle is taught by military and a state certified sniper/designated marksman. In this course you will learn to shoot out to 1000 yards. Equipment for this course consists of rifle and preferably a minimum caliber of .243. Cost for this course is $320 with a $200 nonrefundable deposit.

Contact Information

Space is limited and filling up fast. Please call at 801-915-4118 or email at training@strategictacticalgroup.com for more info.

Chris Willden, Director of Training. Strategic Tactical Group LLC, www.strategictacticalgroup.com. Chris Willden is NRA Certified, a Utah CFP Instructor, an ASP Baton and O.C. Instructor, and a Glock and Bushmaster AR-15 Armorer.

Disclaimers

SittingDuckPolicy.com respects Chris Willden as a competent and qualified firearms instructor, and we recommend the services of him and the company for which he is employed.

That said, neither Chris Willden nor Strategic Tactical Group, LLC are affiliated with SittingDuckPolicy.com; this article is informational only and is not a “paid” or “sponsored” article.